USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume II > Part 59
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On the 9th of March, 1904, Mr. Ray was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Dumas and to them have been born three children: Wayne D., Sylva L. and Leslie. Mr. Ray is a member of the Christian church and his wife belongs to the Methodist church. Both are people of the highest respectability, enjoying the confidence, goodwill and warm friendship of those with whom they have been brought in contact. Mr. Ray gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks lodge at Greeley. His public spirit and devotion to the general welfare have been recognized by his fellow towns- men, who have called him to public office. He has served as trustee of his town for two years, also as town clerk and is the present mayor of Windsor, in which connec- tion he is giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration, seeking to bring about needed reforms and to promote progress along every possible line.
WILL RICHARD MURPHY.
Will Richard Murphy is editor of the Las Animas Leader of that city and in this connection is displaying notable qualities as a newspaper man, through whose efforts his paper has become one of the valued mediums of his section, his editorials always standing for progress and development. He is a native son of Las Animas, born June 6, 1880, his parents being John A. and Frances A. (Stauffer) Murphy. His father is one of Colorado's pioneers, having come to this state in 1867 from New York. He was a member of the Fifth Infantry of the United States Army, having enlisted when but sixteen years of age. He was sent west and served under Kit Carson in General Miles' Regiment at Fort Garland, in the San Luis valley. After leaving the army he turned his attention to the cattle business, continuing very successfully along this line. This was in 1882. He had been connected with newspaper work since a boy and purchased the Las Animas Leader, of which our subject is now the editor. From 1878 until 1894 he served as superintendent of schools of Bent county and from 1892 until 1906, or for fourteen years, he was mayor of Las Animas, giving the city a resultant administration and instituting many measures which have proved of great benefit to the public. From 1912 until 1916 he served as postmaster, ably discharging his duties. Both he and his wife are still living, but he has now retired from the active labors of life. In their family were three children, those besides our subject being John A., Jr., and Mrs. V. A. Hagaman.
Will R. Murphy, who is the eldest in the family, was educated in the public and high schools of Las Animas, graduating from the latter in 1896. During 1897 and 1898 he attended the Universty of Colorado and from 1898 until 1902 the University of Kansas, in which latter institution he took the civil engineering course. In 1902-3 he was connected with the Santa Fe Railroad Company in eastern Kansas and northern California and in 1904-5 was assistant division engineer of the Frisco Railroad. In the latter part of the year 1905 he held the position of engineer for the Wear Coal Company of Pittsburg, Kansas, and then gave his attention to the private practice of civil engi- neering in Las Animas until 1914, when he took over the editorship of the Las Animas Leader, to which he now gives his entire attention. The newspaper is conducted in a thoroughly up-to-date manner and has gained a large circulation. Its editorials are trenchant and to the point and its policy is progressive, so that it has been an important factor in the development of the community.
On April 3, 1904, Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Maud Alice Brown, of Inde- pendence, Kansas, and they became the parents of two children, Marilla Frances and Maxson Brown. Mrs. Murphy passed away October 26, 1908.
In his political affiliations Mr. Murphy is a stanch republican and has always faith- fully supported that party, being at this writing a candidate for the office of secretary
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of state on the republican ticket and his qualifications well entitle him to the honor. He has taken a prominent and resultant part in war service work and is secretary of the County Council of Defense and of the Liberty Loan committee, while he also is chairman of the War Savings drive and a member of the executive board of the Young Men's Christian Association and of the Red Cross. His fraternal relations are with the Masonic order, in which he belongs to the chapter and commandery, and he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, likewise belonging to Phi Delta Theta, a college fraternity. As a member of the Commercial Club he is active and he is also connected with the National Association of Education and the State Association of Education.
FREDERICK D. STACKHOUSE.
Frederick D. Stackhouse, auditor of the city and county of Denver, was born in Rensselaer, Indiana, on the 11th of January, 1864, a son of Isaac M. Stackhouse, who was a native of Ohio and was descended from one of the old Pennsylvania families of English lineage. Two brothers of the name came to America with William Penn and were the founders of the American branch. They were of the Quaker faith. Isaac M. Stackhouse was a tinner by trade and was a man of literary ability who during the latter years of his life devoted his attention to literary pursuits. He gave his political allegiance to the greenback party and was quite active in its support and in furthering various civic matters. He married Margaret Smith, a native of La Fayette, Indiana, and a representative of one of the old pioneer families of that state of English descent. Her father, John Smith, was the founder of the La Fayette Journal, which is still in existence, and the family was a very prominent and influential one in Indiana. The death of Isaac M. Stackhouse occurred in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1903, when he was sixty-seven years of age, and he is still survived by his widow, who is now a resident of Columbus, Ohio. She has reached the age of seventy-seven years, having been born in March, 1841, at La Fayette, Indiana. By her marriage she became the mother of six children, three sons and three daughters.
Frederick D. Stackhouse, who was the third in order of birth in that family, pur- sued his education in the public schools of Southport, Indiana, being graduated from the high school with the class of 1882. He then started out in the business world on his own account and was first employed at the painter's trade, after which he removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, and for a time served as shipping clerk with the firm of Johnston & Erwin, wholesale dry goods merchants. He next entered the car accountant's office of the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railway Company in 1886 and was there engaged in clerical work until 1888. He was afterward with the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company until April, 1891, in which year he made his way westward to Denver, where he arrived a comparative stranger, knowing only two people in the city-F. M. De Weese, now freight auditor of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and Frank Levering, who was then an attorney at law but is now engaged in foreign missionary work in India. Mr. Stackhouse secured a position with the Denver & Rio Grande in the auditing department and continued with that road until October, 1899. He was afterward with the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, in charge of their railroad accounts with the Crystal Railroad and the Colorado & Wyoming Railroad. On the 19th of April, 1906, he became auditor for the Holly Sugar, Company of Holly, Colorado, with which he remained until October, 1909. He then returned to Denver and entered the real estate, insurance and loan busi- ness under the firm name of the Home Realty Company, an incorporated company of which he became treasurer, with F. H. Hanchett as president and W. J. Robinson as sec- retary. He thus continued active in the real estate business until 1912, when he became chief clerk in the city treasurer's office under Allison Stocker, with whom he continued for a year. When the commission form of government was adopted Mr. Stackhouse was appointed secretary to J. M. Perkins, then mayor of the city, remaining with the latter for two years. He next turned his attention to the accounting business, opening an office in the Gas and Electric building and practicing his profession as an expert account- ant. He was first associated with C. G. Weston in a partnership that existed for six months. Mr. Stackhouse then withdrew and established an independent business in December, 1915. This he still conducts and is now associated with Henry Koepcke, under the firm style of Stackhouse & Koepcke, certified public accountants. On the 1st of June, 1917, Mr. Stackhouse was again called to public office, being elected auditor of the city and county of Denver, in which position he has since continuously and accept- ably served.
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On the 2d of March, 1887, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Mr. Stackhouse was married to Miss Alice M. Thompson, a native of Marion county, Indiana, and a daughter of John W. and Martha M. (Denny) Thompson, both of whom were representatives of old Massachusetts families, and Mr. Thompson's mother was an own cousin of Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stackhouse: Evelyn, who is now a teacher in Los Angeles, California; Maynard, who married Miss Rose Graham of Denver and resides at Bakersfield, California; Katharine, the wife of Mannie Dillon, a resident of Denver; Paul, who married Miss Hazel Schlusser and makes his home in Denver; Margaret, at home; and Earl, who was the first born and died at the age of five months.
The life history of Mr. Stackhouse holds much that is of interest because it is the record of earnest effort intelligently directed and tells of many victories in the busi- ness world. He started out for himself when but twelve years of age, earning his first money as a newsboy. The family lived six miles from Indianapolis, at Southport, Indiana, and he was obliged to walk that distance to get his papers. He was also employed in early youth by a farmer, to whose home he had to walk a distance of two miles, and in compensation for his labors he received thirty-seven and a half cents per day, which was, however, twelve and a half cents in excess of the amount that was first agreed upon. He proved so diligent and efficient, however, that the former sum was accorded him and throughout his entire life the same diligence and efficiency has enabled him to work his way upward until he is today prominent in professional circles as a certified accountant and is making a most creditable record in office. He enjoys the respect and goodwill of his fellow townsmen and the high regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact, and his progress in life reflects credit and honor upon him.
Mr. Stackhouse gives his political allegiance to the republican party where national questions and issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to the lodge and chapter, and he is also a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and the Lions Club. His religious faith is indicated in bis membership in the Broadway Baptist church, in which he is serving as chairman of the board of trustees. He is likewise treasurer of the Baptist state convention and has always taken an active and helpful part in the work of the church. He is now serving as secretary of the Westminster College Association and was a member of the library board under Dr. Perkins' admin- istration. Mr. Stackhouse is also a director in a number of industrial enterprises, his varied interests and activities placing him with the valued and representative citizens of Denver.
R. IRL MAWSON.
R. Irl Mawson is the president of the Farmers Bank of Severance and proprietor of the business conducted under the name of the Mawson Lumber Company. The extent and importance of his commercial and financial interests place him in a prominent position among the representative business men of his section of the state. He was born in Belmont, Kansas, June 29, 1882, and is a son of Richard W. and Anne E. (Martin) Mawson, who were natives of Ohio and Missouri respectively. The father was a farmer by occupation. He spent the first twelve years of his life in his native state and then went with his mother to Kansas, where the remaining period of his minority was passed. When old enough he took up a homestead in Doniphan county, that state, coming into possession of a tract of raw prairie on which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. Today as a result of his planting there are twenty acres of heavy timber upon the place and some of the trees are four feet in thickness. With charac- teristic energy he began the development of the farm and brought his fields under a very high state of cultivation. His life was one of untiring energy and thrift. At the time of the Civil war, however, he put aside all business and personal considerations and left his mother upon the home place while he enlisted for active service as a member of the Thirteenth Kansas Infantry, with which he served for three years, or during the period of the war. When the country no longer needed his military aid he returned to his home in Kansas and has since conducted the farm, which he has converted into one of the valuable farm properties of that section of the country. He is now seventy- five years of age, while his wife has reached the age of sixty-five years, and they are among the most highly esteemed couples residing in Doniphan county, Kansas.
R. Irl Mawson was reared on the old homestead farm and early became acquainted
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with the best methods of planting the crops and caring for the harvests. The district schools afforded him his preliminary educational opportunities. Later he continued his studies at Wathena, Kansas, and at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he completed his course. He then entered the employ of the Daugherty & Moss Lumber Company of St. Joseph, Missouri, in the capacity of bookkeeper and remained with that house for seven years. He afterward became connected with the E. W. Ray & Son Lumber Company of St. Joseph and continued with them for two years, on the expiration of which period he entered into partnership with Mr. Ray in organizing a lumber business at Wathena, Kansas, of which he became the secretary and manager, so continuing from January, 1913, until July, 1914. He then sold his business there on account of the health of his wife and removed to Colorado, where he arrived on the 15th of July, 1914. Making his way to Denver, he was there employed by the firm of Hallack & Howard for three months, after which he purchased a lumberyard at Severance, Weld county, and has since conducted. business at that point. He carries a large stock of lumber and building materials and enjoys an extensive patronage, having the only lumberyard in the town.
Mr. Mawson was united in marriage to Miss Atha Louise Deffenbaugh on the 17th of July, 1907, and to them was born a son, Richard Wallace, whose birth occurred Sep- tember 20, 1910. The wife and mother passed away March 19, 1917, after an illness of four years, her death being the occasion of deep and widespread regret not only to her immediate family but to many friends.
Throughout the years of his residence in Colorado Mr. Mawson has concentrated his efforts and energies upon his business affairs with excellent success and he is today not only owner of a lumberyard but became the organizer of the Farmers Bank of Severance, in company with D. E. Severance, on the 1st of May, 1916, and was elected to the presi- dency of the bank, with Dr. Holden as vice president and H. G. Gaines as cashier. The bank is capitalized at ten thousand dollars and its deposits now amount to about sev- enty thousand dollars. Mr. Mawson is also a stockholder in the Great Western Alfalfa Mills Company, operating six or eight mills. He is a stockholder in the Western Mortgage Company and in the Mutual Drug Company of Denver. His business interests have thus become wide and extensive and are of an important character, contributing to public progress and prosperity as well as to individual success. In his political views Mr. Mawson is a republican, giving earnest support to the party, yet never seeking or desir- ing office. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church and to its teachings he is most faithful. His entire life has commended him to the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been associated and his genuine worth is recognized by all.
JOHN M. COBBS.
John M. Cobbs, who is engaged in cattle raising in Weld county, is yet active in business although he has reached the age of eighty-seven years. He had previously retired but with the outbreak of the present war, feeling that he might contribute something toward increasing the food supply to help the government, he again took up the task of raising cattle and hogs. His has been an active and useful life. He was born in the eastern part of Virginia, January 1, 1831, a son of Dr. J. P. and Jane M. (Garland) Cobbs, the former a practicing physician.
After leaving Virginia, John M. Cobbs became a resident of northern Indiana, where he attended school to a limited extent but his opportunities in that direction were somewhat curtailed by the necessity of earning his living. He early took up the occupation of farming, which he followed for a few years in Indiana, and in 1859 he arrived in Colorado when this state was an undeveloped territory and gave little indica- tion of the progress that would transform it into a great and prosperous commonwealth. It was not until that season that the Indians of Colorado had ever seen a white man. All of the hardships and privations of pioneer life must be faced by the early settlers and there were many difficulties to be overcome. Mr. Cobbs made his way to the west owing to the excitement over the discovery of gold at Cherry Creek. He went into the mines and there worked for three years, while subsequently he settled on a farm on the Cache la Poudre river, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land. He next turned his attention to the cattle industry and his business affairs were energetically, intelligently and profitably managed. When about fifty years of age, however, he retired from active business life, having acquired a comfortable competence, be- lieving that he was getting too old for further work of such vigorous character. When the present war broke out, however, be again started in business, turning his attention to the raising of cattle and hogs for the army, and in this he is assisted by his
JOHN M. COBBS
MRS. JOHN M. COBBS
Vol. II-27
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brother-in-law. Their business has proven very profitable and Mr. Cobbs displays much of the spirit of enterprise and determination that actuated him in previous years. He formerly took an interest in the Farmers State Bank and was one of its directors for five years. A brother of John M. Cobbs, David G., was another pioneer of the western frontier; he was by three years the junior of our subject and was foreman in the Rocky Mountain News office in 1862 or 63 when that paper was located at Cherry Creek. This was at the time when the whole plant, including presses and material, was all washed away by a disastrous flood of the creek. David G. Cobbs was also one of the few intimates and "pals" of John T. Daly, Colorado's famous pioneer.
John M. Cobbs has been married three times. His last marriage was in 1898, when he wedded Sarah Jordan. His children have all passed away and his father and mother have long since departed this life. The family belong to the Christian church. There is no phase of pioneer development in Colorado with which John M. Cobbs is not familiar. He has lived to see a remarkable transformation since he came to the state. Almost sixty years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since he arrived in the west, which was then dominated by the red man, while over the plains roamed great herds of buffalo and the white race had not yet made its demands for the natural resources here offered. Mr. Cobbs has watched the settlement as the western wilderness has been subdued and made to yield of its fruits for the benefits of progress and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the advance- ment of the present.
ARNOLD W. THORMANN.
Arnold W. Thormann, who is engaged in the drug business in Fort Collins, was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on the 25th of May, 1869, and is a son of Dr. George F. and Marie (Brandstetter) Thormann, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Switzerland. The father came to America about 1848 and located in southern Illi- nois, where he resided for a few years. He then removed to Dubuque, Iowa, where he engaged in the practice of medicine. He had early studied for the profession and had practiced in Paris, France, and in Switzerland before crossing the Atlantic to the new world. He followed his profession in Dubuque throughout his remaining days, becoming recognized as one of the able and distinguished physicians of that city. He there passed away at the age of seventy-four years, while his wife died on the 11th of February, 1911, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Arnold W. Thormann was reared and educated in Dubuque and in Chicago. He supplemented his early school training by study in the University of Illinois, where he pursued a course in pharmacy, heing graduated there with the class of 1889. He has since engaged in the drug business, which he has followed in various places. He was registered as a pharmacist in Iowa and Illinois when twenty-one years of age. He worked in different stores in Chicago for six years and after remaining in the employ of others for four years he purchased a stock of drugs-in that city and carried on busi- ness on his own account for two years. In September, 1898, he removed to Asheville, North Carolina, for the benefit of his wife's health and was engaged in the drug business at that place for eight years, at the end of which time he disposed of his interests in the south and came to Colorado, hoping that the change of climate would prove beneficial to his wife. He then engaged in business in Golden, Colorado, for two years, after which he was not active in commercial circles for a year. In 1910 he established his home at Fort Collins, Larimer county, and purchased the stock of drugs of a bankrupt merchant and has since carried on the business, which he has greatly enlarged and developed. In fact he has built up a wonderful business and has won notable success. He has owned four different stores in the past twenty-two years and all have been wisely, carefully and profitably conducted. He has been a close student of every phase of the drug trade and his enterprise, determination and close application have brought him notable success. Mr. Thormann is a great lover of horses and dogs and is the owner of a registered saddle horse and registered Airedale dog. He has trained several horses and has the reputation of being as good a horse trainer as there is in this part of the country.
On the 9th of November, 1896, Mr. Thormann was united in marriage to Miss Marie L. Grill, who passed away after a long illness on the 3d of September, 1916. On the 27th of October, 1917, Mr. Thormann wedded Miss Emma A. Grill, a sister of his first wife and a daughter of Jacob and Louise (Hale) Grill, both of whom were natives of
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Germany but came to America at an early day, settling in Dubuque, Iowa. Her father was a mechanic and followed his trade there throughout the remainder of his life, becom- ing superintendent of large iron works in Dubuque. He has passed away, but his widow survives and is now living in Chicago.
Fraternally Mr. Thormann is connected with the Knights of Pythias and politically is a republican, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He is one of the trustees of the church and an active worker in its interests. He resides at No. 824 West Olive street in Fort Collins, where he owns an attractive home, while his business is located in the Northern Hotel building. While ambitious to win success along com- mercial lines, he has never made this the end and aim of his life but has always rec- ognized his opportunities and obligations in other directions and has become an active and earnest worker in the church and in the Young Men's Christian Association and has also done most effective work in promoting the plans and projects of the Chamber of Commerce relating to the welfare and upbuilding of the city at large.
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